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LAX87LA031

1986-11-01 · HALF MOON BAY, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport HAF

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH THE TERRAIN DURING A FORCED LANDING FOLLOWING A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. THE PLT INDICATED THAT HE RETARDED THE THROTTLE AND APPLIED THE CARBURETOR HEAT TO DESCEND FROM 3,000 TO 2,000 FT WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT. HE WAS UNABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE BECAUSE THE ACFT WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH AN ELECTRICAL STARTING SYSTEM. HE LANDED THE ACFT IN A FIELD WITH ROUGH/SOFT SURFACE CONDITIONS COLLAPSING THE LANDING GEAR AND CAUSING SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE ACFT'S FUSELAGE. THE PLT ALSO INDICATED THAT THERE WERE NO MECHANICAL FAILURES OR MALFUNCTIONS. THE ACFT'S ENGINE WAS EXAMINED AND NO CAUSE FOR THE LOSS OF POWER WAS DETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_LAX87LA031.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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